Many students have misconceptions of how much drinking occurs on campus, and Associate Dean Gina Firth is trying to change that by putting together a social norms campaign that will educate students about how much drinking is actually occurring. The numbers may be surprising.
Firth and UT seniors Delfina Diaz and Lauren Nicholaides are beginning a new campaign on campus.
The campaign will create awareness about what is really going on at UT especially in terms of drinking.
“The goal is to educate students on what is normal in regards to drinking on campus,” Firth said.
When students are asked how much they think the average student drinks, the number is close to five times a week.
Many students don’t realize that the average UT student drinks less than once a week.
Firth explains that “like attracts like,” which means that just because you and your friends drink four times a week does not mean that everyone on campus is.
“When students start to think that their views become skewed,” said Firth.
The campaign will show students that are drinking in excess that their drinking habits are not normal, even though they may think they are.
To drive home the message, Diaz and Nicholaides are putting together a campaign that will feature posters and giveaways.
“We have come up with a few potential ideas for our campaign,” Diaz said. “One of our ideas is a ‘Sober is Sexy’ theme.”
Based on the 2005 social norm statistics taken from the on-line core survey, 79.8 percent of UT students say that alcohol does not make them sexier and 75.5 percent of students did not use alcohol last time they engaged in sexual intercourse.
The survey also found that 80.7 percent of students have refused an offer of alcohol or other drugs in the last 30 days and 84 percent of UT students have never been in trouble with the police, residence hall or other college authorities as a result of using alcohol or other drugs.
“We really just want UT students to think about the real norms on campus,” said Diaz. “What they might hear, might not be what is actually occurring.”